Mounting for tilt-up type garage doors



i. Feb. 17, 1953 R. B. ROGERS 2,628,385

MOUNTING FOR TILT-UP TYPE GARAGE DOORS Filed Oct. 18, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 I N VEN TOR.

Feb. 17, 1953 R. B. ROGERS 7 2,528,385

MOUNTING FOR TILT-UP TYPE GARAGE DOORS Filed Oct. 18, 1949 2 SX-IEETS-SI-IEET z I N VEN TOR.

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Patented Feb. 17, 1953 UNITED MOUNTING FOR TILT-UP TYPE GAR-AGE DOORS Richard B. Rogers, Orlando, Fla.

Application October 18, 1949, Serial No. 121,924

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to mountings for garage doors and similar closures of the tilt-up type.

The general object of the invention is to provide mountings that are simple and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install and efficient in operation.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide garage door mountings of the tilt-up type that shall support the door at points approximately equidistant from its top and bottom when in open position, so that there will not be the tendency of the door to droop either at the top or bottom ends, as would be the case if it were overbalanced at either end.

Another object of the invention is to provide mountings of such construction as to permit the maximum unobstructed Width of opening between the jambs.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of mountings which will require the minimum clearance above the level of the door opening for the movement of the top edge of the door when being opened, and minimum protrusion of the door beyond the door frame on the outside of the garage when in open position.

Another object of the invention is to provide garage door mountings so constructed as in effect to snap the door shut in the last few inches of the closing movement of the door.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred and pi actical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawings which accompany the follow ing specification. and throughout the several figures of which the same reference characters have been used to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the inside of the entrance of a garage, showing the position of the mountings with the door closed;

Figure 2 is a section taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the position of the mounting at one side, with the door in fully open position;

Figure 4 is an exploded View showing in perspecthe numeral l represents the door, which may 2 be of any practical construction but is here shown, constructed, in the interest of lightness, with a peripheral wood frame 2 and studs 3 and l, plywood sheathing 5 on one side, and stiifening gussets 6 at the angles, on the other side.

The door is mounted in an opening defined by a frame having the lintel l and jambs 8. A header 9 bridges the jambs against the lintel and acts as a stop which the top edge of the door engages when the door reaches closed position. Mountings are between the sides of the door and the jambs, the mountings being duplicated, one for each side.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, a flat supporting bracket plate Ill is secured to the inside of the jamb 8, that is, the side which faces the door opening. This plate projects inside the garage, as shown. A lifting arm I l is pivotally mounted in the bracket plate It at an intermediate point in the length of said arm, the lower end of the arm being connected to the heavy coil spring 12, while the upper end is pivoted to the flange of an angle bar 53, extending along approximately the middle third of the side of the door. The lower end of the spring is anchored to the iamb near the bottom. When the door is fully open, as shown in Figure 3, the spring is in its most relaxed condition, but still under sufficient tension to lift the door to its open position. The lifting arm I I has a series of holes I4 in its lower end, in any one of which the upper end of the spring may be secured for adjusting the leverage of the lifting arm. The lower end of the spring may be hooked into any one of the links of the chain id for adjusting its tension.

A guiding arm i6 is pivoted at its respective ends to the bracket plate l0 and the angle bar is, the pivotal connections of said lifting arm and guiding arm with the bracket plate being so relatively positioned that said arms oscillate with radii of diiferent length, that of the lifting arm being longer, and the arms being so positioned that when the lifting arm has raised the door almost to its fully open position, the guiding arm passes slightly beyond its vertical radial position, which is the highest point in the path of movement of its pivotal connections with the angle bar, the parts becoming automatically stabilized in the positions shown in Figure 3, in which the predominant weight of the door which is inside the garage, as indicated in broken lines in Figure 2, is supported by the guiding arm so that to initiate the closing of the door one must pull it forward byits lower edge until the guid- 3 ing arm has passed to vertical radial position before the spring l2 begins to function as a counterbalance.

The only elements of mounting that extend beyond the jamb into the door opening are the bracket plate it and the flange ll of the angle bar it, which are substantially in the same plane, and the lifting and guiding arms I l and i6, respectively, which lap the parts ill and I1. Since each of these members is relatively thin, of the order of one-quarter inch in thickness, the total intrusion of each mounted into the door opening is not over one-half of an inch.

The lifting arm is divided in two sections [8 and It, the longer section l8 being on the door side of the plate i8, and the shorter section l9 being on the jamb side. There are two reasons for offsetting the sections of the lifting arm in this manner; first, if the section l9 were on the same side as the section I8, and integral therewith, it would collide with the guiding arm It in the course of the folding movements of said arms; second, the spring 52 which is of relatively large diameter, would set out obiectionably beyond the jamb into the door opening.

The two sections of the lifting arm are fixedly united and journaled in the bracket plate It by means of the following instrumentalities.

A large circular hole 29 is punched through the plate it. See Figure 4. This is the hearing. The

disk 2i that came out of the hole, or another disk of equal diameter, serves as a journal within said hearing. A pair of washers 22 and 23 of larger diameter than the hole 26, are placed on opposite sides against the plate It, axially aligned with the hole 29, forming covers for said hole and retaining the journal 2! within said bearing. The respective ends 18 and [9 of the lifting arm are placed against the washers 22 and 23 in parallel relation to one another. Each of the aforementioned members, disk, washers, and lifting arm sections, are formed with a similar polygonal bolt hole 24, and a bolt 25 is provided, having a polygonal shank 26 equal to the aggregate thickness of the plate It, washers and arm sections, said shank having a cylindrical threaded end portion "21.

Said bolt extends through the polygonal bolt holes and is secured by means of the lock washer 28 and nut 28, the latter engaging the threaded end portion 2?. l8 and N3 of the lifting arm are rigidly united, and a journal box is formed by the plate It and the washers 22 and 23, which will retain a film of grease or oil and exclude dust. The circumferential interface between the bearing and journal is relatively large, so as to minimize wear and ensure long life to the mounting.

Figure 2 shows the position of the mounting parts when the door is closed. The lifting arm has rotated clockwise through an angle of approximately 160, so that the arm section !9 which was down, is now up, having stretched the spring !2 by an amount almost twice the length of said section. The spring i2 is thrusting downwardly almost in alignment with the lifting arm.

Simultaneously with the clockwise swing of the lifting arm, the guiding arm it has also swung clockwise until just before the door becomes quite closed, it is horizontal, and from that point its pivotal connection with the door moves downward in an are that inclines toward the inside of the garage. This movement is produced by the spring acting with its maximum force component, and creates in effect a snap action which forces the door shut. The door is thus forcefully held By this construction the sections 4 against swinging due to fluctuations in Wind pressure.

It is also to be noted that the jambs 8 are provided near the bottom with attached wedges 30, the forward ends of which face outwardly, so that the two wedges flare in relation to one another. They act as centering devices for the door, and under the snap action referred to, the door is firmly held between these wedges.

The train of arrows in Figure 2 indicates the trajectories respectively of the top and bottom edges of the door, in moving from fully open to fully closed position. The line ab represents the level of the lintel. The line c-d represents the level of the top of the curvilinear path of the upper edge of the door. In the case of a door seven feet high, the distance from a-b to cd is six inches. Only this much clearance need be provided between the lintel and ceiling of the garage. The line w:c is a vertical line through the forward edge of the door when in fully open position. The line y-z represents the vertical through the foremost point of the trajectory of the forward edge of the door in descending. The forward movement will not exceed two inches for a seven foot door.

In the case of a two car garage in which the door may be sixteen feet wide, double spring strength may be employed by providing a balance plate 3! p-ivotally connected to the section I!) of the lifting arm. See Figure 5. To this balance plate, duplicate springs i2 are attached at points equidistant and on opposite sides with respect to the pivotal connection 52. The lower ends of these springs may be hooked to the same link of the chain i5.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be a preferred and practical embodiment of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the specific details of construction and arrangement of parts, as shown and described, are by way of illustration and not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Mounting for a tilt-up door, adapted to be connected to a side edge of the door to the adjacent jamb, said mounting including a bracket plate securable to the jamb, a lifting arm coinposed of a transverse portion journaled in said plate and long and short sections extending radially oppositely from said transverse portion on opposite sides of said bracket plate, the long arm being on the door side, a bar adapted to be secured along an intermediate portion of the side edge of the door, the end of said long section being pivoted to the lower portion of said bar, said bar being in a vertical position, a counterbalance spring connected to said short section adapted to be secured to the jamb below said short section, and a guiding arm shorter than said lifting arm pivoted at its ends to the upper portion of said bar, and to said plate, cooperating with said lifting arm to support said bar in substantially horizontal position when said spring is in its minimum length position, and to support said bar substantially vertical when said spring is in its maximum length position, the axis of rotation of said lifting arm when said spring is in maximum length position being be low the point of connection of said spring to said lifting arm and substantially in line with the direction of pull of said spring, and said guiding arm being inclined downwardly from its pivotal connection with said plate toward its pivotal connection with said bar, whereby the door must be bodily lifted until said guiding arm passes its horizontal position before said spring begins to exercise its counterbalancing function.

2. Mounting for a tilt-up door adapted to be connected to a side edge of the door and to the adjacent jamb, said mounting including a fiat plate securable to th inside face of said jamb, a bar of right angle cross-section adapted to be secured in an intermediate position to the side of the door with a longitudinal depending flange adjacent the jamb, a counterbalanced spring adapted to be secured at one end to said jamb, a lifting arm comprising a relatively long section positioned on the door side of said plate and a relatively short section on the opposite side of said plate, the remote ends of said long and short sections being connected respectively to said flange and to the other end of said counterbalance spring, said sections being journaled in 20 said plate in diametrically opposite positions by the following instrumentalities, said plate having a circular bearing aperture therethrough, a disk rotatably fitted within said aperture, a washer on each side of said aperture coaxial therewith, of larger diameter and bearing against said plate, said disk, Washers, and the proximate ends of said lifting arm sections being provided with coaxial similar polygonal apertures, a bolt having a corresponding polygonal shank passing through the polygonal apertures of said apertured members fixing them against relative rotation, and a tightening nut on the end of said bolt, said longer section of said lifting arm being movable in a plane parallel to the inside face of said jamb.

RICHARD B. ROGERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATE PATENTS Number Name Date 1,722,003 Lee July 23, 1929 2,162,381 Guth June 13, 1939 2,239,924 McFarlane et al. Apr. 29, 1941 2,259,819 Holmes Oct. 21, 1941 

